'Friends' in the Bible

Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Behold, a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:

Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David; and yet today you charge me with a guilt concerning the woman.

It came about when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends.

Haman controlled himself, however, went to his house and sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh.

Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows fifty cubits high made and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.

“I am a joke to my friends,The one who called on God and He answered him;The just and blameless man is a joke.

“My friends are my scoffers;My eye weeps to God.

“He who informs against friends for a share of the spoil,The eyes of his children also will languish.

“My relatives have failed,And my intimate friends have forgotten me.

“Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,For the hand of God has struck me.

And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

“I will answer you,And your friends with you.

It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.

The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.

My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;And my kinsmen stand afar off.

For the sake of my brothers and my friends,I will now say, “May peace be within you.”

A perverse man spreads strife,And a slanderer separates intimate friends.

He who conceals a transgression seeks love,But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.

A man of too many friends comes to ruin,But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Wealth adds many friends,But a poor man is separated from his friend.

All the brothers of a poor man hate him;How much more do his friends abandon him!He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

“I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam.I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;I have drunk my wine and my milk.Eat, friends;Drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers.”

For thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as exiles to Babylon and will slay them with the sword.

And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have falsely prophesied.’”

For I have heard the whispering of many,“Terror on every side!Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!”All my trusted friends,Watching for my fall, say:“Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against himAnd take our revenge on him.”

‘Then behold, all of the women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,“Your close friendsHave misled and overpowered you;While your feet were sunk in the mire,They turned back.”

She weeps bitterly in the nightAnd her tears are on her cheeks;She has none to comfort herAmong all her lovers.All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;They have become her enemies.

So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.

Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter,

so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.

And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’

Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;

“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.

And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’

But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;

And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,

Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

You are My friends if you do what I command you.

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

Also some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater.

Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be kept in custody and yet have some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from ministering to him.

The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care.

but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.